Durham County Council has been presented with the Young Carers Charter for its commitment to supporting the young people across the county who are carers for their grandparents, parents and siblings. The charter, which has been developed by Family Action – The Bridge Young Carer’s Service, has been awarded in recognition of the council’s commitment to supporting young carers, by assessing their needs and signposting them to organisations and professionals who can assist them.
As part of that commitment, a steering group has already been set up, to listen to the views of young carers and use comments about their unique needs to help shape the way the council’s services are commissioned.  Durham County Council’s Chief Executive, Terry Collins, said: “Young carers have a very specific set of needs due to their circumstances and the awarding of the charter will mean that across the board, wherever our county’s young carers need to access services or assistance, we are committed to bearing their unique needs in mind.” Individual services within the council and those that work in partnership with them are also being encouraged to work towards being awarded the charter in their own right. The Children and Families Partnership, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and the Youth Offending Service have already been awarded the charter and plans are in place for the new Families First teams to also work towards gaining it. Durham County Council’s cabinet member for adult and health services, Cllr Lucy Hovvels, added: “As chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board, I would like to express how much we value the contribution that young carers make to helping us with our health agenda. “We will continue to work in conjunction with young carers and partner organisations in addressing the issues that arise for these dedicated young carers who contribute so much to our society.”